


Needed a Friend

by longkissgnite



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, annie autistic and vocal stims a lot, annie autistic. i hope u know, annie is ridiculous and very busy, because it’s annie pov and annie doesn’t realize, but don’t worry theres very much of him from then on, first chapter has only a tiny bit of finnick, he’s got sexy post games ptsd and is also 14, however this is barely /mentioned/, not at all a ship fic just them here together, oh and uh him, silly kids just ! being kids man, so he shouldn’t have all this he’s just a kid, some crushing but not even much of that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26648260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/longkissgnite/pseuds/longkissgnite
Summary: Finnick Odair comes home as the 65th Victor of The Hunger Games. Annie is determined to prove he’s still the boy that left, and that he still needs a friend(more specifically, that he needs her).
Relationships: Annie Cresta/Finnick Odair
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8
Collections: Canon Odesta





	1. Coming Home

⠀⠀”Give him time, Annalisa.” Natalia chided as Annie ran towards the justice building, although her sisters words caused her to stop in her tracks, make the young girl look up at the other.⠀⠀  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Natalia was hardly older than Annie, a little less than two years, but she was taller, bigger. Annie didn’t see /how/ that happened, but it worked well anyway. Natalia was tall, strong, and a career. Annie was short, small, and at best a helping hand for fishing trips.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Currently the sisters were heading to the train station in the District, they (among many, many others) were going to meet this years victor. Finnick would arrive home from the Capitol today, and Annie wanted to be amongst the first people he sees back home.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”He won’t need time, Natalia,” Annie snapped, crossing her arms, “he’ll probably need a friend.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Natalia sighed, and Annie didn’t look up at her anymore, instead she simply started walking again, and was of course soon stopped.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Ann,” Annie huffed at the nickname, she didn’t /like/ Ann, it was old, formal, and not even pretty. But Natalia liked it, she said it sounded /sensible/. “He will need a friend,” Natalia took her arms and uncrossed them, letting go once they were at her sides. “But he’s going to need to get /home/ first, can you imagine how overwhelmed he probably is?”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Annie paused, and nodded. She so easily could imagine. To go into the games, to leave your home for the first time, maybe your only time. To have to be with strangers, even if you had a friend reaped with you someone has to die, to have to trust so many strangers. And then she had no idea what even /happened/ during the few days before the games started. She knew there was the training, and maybe that wouldn’t be /so/ overwhelming for Finnick since he was a career, but still to have to show off whatever skills to strangers, that sounded intimidating at the least. And then the interviews, to be on a stage, to talk to a stranger in front of the whole country.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀And that wasn’t even including being alone in the wilderness, the killing, and everything else she was sure came along with something so cruel.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Annie was sure then she’d never be able to handle being in the games. Being in an arena, she could hardly fish, how would she fare forced to kill? She wouldn’t be able to.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Oh Finnick was strong, being able to come home from all of that.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”It’s probably wretched.” Annie said slowly as she processed the whirlwind of her thoughts, “He probably just wants to go home,” she said decidedly, “take a nap in his /own/ bed.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Natalia nodded as well, smiling a bit. Annie was sure it was because in some way she had won, Natalia had won the debate at least. It was times like these that Annie hated how her sister talked to her, she understood at times. Annie /always/ had her head in the clouds, but she didn’t always need to be yanked down to earth.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀As they got closer Annie slipped from her sisters side. Small as she was, she could slip through the people, get as close to a front row seat as she could to Finnick.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀This was all quite silly, she thought. None of these people were his friends, none of them knew him before he left. What was the point of all this? Only because he was a victor? Only because he won?  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Caesar Flickerman had called him /pretty/, everyone was calling him pretty.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀He was pretty, Annie knew he was, had thought so for a while. But it was strange seeing everyone else call him that. When before he was just him, loud, silly him. Now he’s bold, pretty and brave. That wasn’t him, the silly fisher boy was him.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀When she's older and looking back on today, she’ll be upset that people thought he was pretty for a new reason. Not because they don’t know him, or it wasn’t authentic, but because he was a /kid/. He was a kid and the whole country was already in love with him.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀But as a kid herself, as a younger kid herself, she didn’t realize all this.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀What Annie did realize was the slight daze to Finnick’s eyes when he stepped onto the platform. The discomfort, the look like he wanted to run back on the train. The way his hair was ruffled up, like he had been resting. The way it was so clearly straightened still, even as his curls peaked through whatever chemicals the Capitol put there.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀She realized that in front of her was a boy who didn’t like where he was.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Finnick!” She called, and it was mixed into the crowd like everything else. Annie was nothing more but a new fan now, not a friend.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Still, he noticed her.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀He looked at her and his smile was his own, lopsided and silly, not sharp and cornered.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Then he looked away, and the corners were back. Sharp, forced, not his own, not really.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀His family got to him, parents, siblings, gathered him up and took him not down the road but to the justice building. Probably to wait until the crowd went away before they got to their new house, she thought.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Annie had been allowed to go see him before he left, why wouldn’t she be allowed to now? Sure, she wasn’t family, but she was his friend, none of these people were.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀The peacekeepers had other plans, it seemed like, and wouldn’t let her in at all. They wouldn’t even let her /leave/, instead they had her stand there until Natalia /finally/ made her way to her.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Then she was being pulled home and scolded, about how she shouldn’t run off, about how she scared Natalia.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”But he needs a friend,” Annie argued, and this was brushed aside, Natalia kept talking and didn’t /care/ what Annie said.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”He's not happy, he’s not smiling, he needs a friend.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”He's smiling, he’s been smiling. He loves this, you know he does, everyone knows, he’s smiling and happy. He doesn’t need a friend, and you don’t need to be running off.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”He's not /really/ smiling!” Annie huffed, but Natalia shrugged her off, and didn't argue anymore. She wouldn’t listen, why would she? Natalia was always so sure she was right, that Annie never really knew anything, that somehow Annie who paid attention to everything, couldn’t observe.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Finnick had been smiling, when he first went to the Capitol he had been. When he was interviewed. Even in the arena, when he smiled it was almost always real. But now? Ever since he came out? It was all sharp and corners, Annie wondered if Finnick even remembered how to really smile.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Of course he did, he smiled at her.


	2. Braiding, Not Knotting

⠀⠀”Your knots need work,” Annie spoke, watching as Finnick lifted sand and slowly let it trickle from his hand, making a neat pile.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”They did their job, how much work could they really need?” Annie hated how distance he sounded, how distant he's /been/ sounding. He’s here, he’s sitting beside her, but his thoughts seemed so far away.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀She supposed they were in the arena, she supposed most victors’ thoughts were. That must be horrible, to come home but not have the rest of you come back, the parts that mattered.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”They did an okay job.” She corrected, she herself was gently braiding a bracelet with some thinner rope her neighbor gave her. Gently Annie weaved it, putting in shells where she could string them, delicately she braided them to be secure.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Oh yeah, and you could’ve done better?” Finnick’s voice was aggressive, agitated, but he wasn’t. He shrunk down, mumbled “I’m sorry,” and fisted both hands into the sand.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀He’d been like this too. Aggressive, mean, it wasn’t him. She knew he didn’t mean anything by it, that he wouldn’t be mean to /her/ of all people. That’d just be unfair of him, and Finnick has never been on to be unfair. She supposed he was only snappy because she brought him out of his head, and he needed that, so being a little snappy was okay.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Probably not under those circumstances,” Annie said truthfully, “you did really well, but you could use some work on the craftsmanship.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀She watched him carefully, watched as he lifted sand again, slowly let it fall from his hand. Watched his chest rise and fall as he took such slow breaths. He was trying to calm himself down, she just wished she knew how she could help.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”How would you have done it?” His words came slowly, but they lost all the bite to them, they were gentle and curious. She could handle that, that was more than easy.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Well, like this,” she held out the bracelet she had, “without the shells, of course, and bigger, obviously, but you see how they’re braided and /then/ knotted? That would’ve been better, I think. But I don’t know how much time you really had to make them, of course, you really did your very best.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”And it worked out, I’m home now, it doesn’t matter if I had done it differently,” There was nothing cruel in his tone, it was simple, not quite hopeful but it could be if he let it be. “But just in case I need to tie human sized traps again, show me anyway.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀She giggled and nodded, putting her bracelet beside her and reaching into the bag she had, handing him some loose yarn. “You know how to braid, of course.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Of course,” Finnick confirmed with a nod, then fumbled with the yarn immediately, “but I could probably do with a review.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”You don’t know how to braid?” Annie raised an eyebrow and shook her head, taking the yarn from him.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Carefully she tied the three strands she had given him at the end, a small but secure knot, and looked up at him. She only /frowned/, he hadn’t been watching her hand at all, just her face.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Not me, Finn, the yarn,” he nodded, grinned (not all lopsided though, but clearly /real/) and watched her hands work.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”See, you take the middle and put it over one side, and then the new middle over the other side.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Why don’t you just do it for me?”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Because that’s not how you learn.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Maybe I don’t want to learn.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Finnick,” she looked up at him, frowning again, “you asked, you’ll pay /attention/ and try it yourself.”   
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀He nodded, and she smiled slightly. Carefully she repeated the motion a few more times before putting the yarn onto Finnick’s knee.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”You try now,” she instructed, and he did, clumsily.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀He repeated it, they tangled, and she carefully undid it. He repeated it, they tangled, and now she took his hands when he tried again and she guided him.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Her hands were petite next to his, they were soft too. His were big, but the rest of him was too. He was just a big kid, and she was a small one. For a moment she wondered how his hands became so much more calloused than hers, but quickly remembered the weapon training he did was probably the route of that.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Eventually, he got it on his own, she didn’t need need to hold his hands, she could return to her (much more complex) knot work as he braided.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀She watched him at first, his hands, his face. She watched calm focus wash over him as he let himself work the yarn. It was probably the calmest she’d seen him since before his reaping, and there was some pride in being the indirect cause of that. He deserved to be calm, he deserved to be able to soak in the sun and the ocean sounds. He deserved to just have a friend.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Once she was sure he had it, once he had stopped asking questions, she fully focused on her own work. No more glances to him, no more wondering if this was the first time since he got home two weeks ago he’d been so thoroughly calm. Those thoughts only saddened her anyway, and she knew he wouldn’t be able to give her an answer.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀The afternoon went on and dusk was slowly starting to set in when she felt a small tug at her head. She looked at him and giggled when she realized what he was doing.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”What’re you up to?”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”I finished braiding the yarn,” he shrugged, laughing, chuckling to himself, he sounded happy, even if not fully, his smile was lopsided.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”So you’re moving on to my hair? The natural next step would be to /knot/ the yarn.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”But I wanted to keep practicing this, I know I can tie knots.” He smirked, and it fell quickly, like some realization hit him that Annie could only watch but not know. “Unless you don’t want me to, I won’t, I’m sorry, Annie, I’m really sorry.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀She shook her head quickly, “No, no it’s okay, I just thought it was funny.” She explained, “you can keep working, it’s okay, you’re okay, Finnick.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀He nodded, albeit awkwardly, and took some of her hair again, beginning to braid what had come unraveled. He was a bit rough, but he was used to working with material without a nervous system, she couldn’t fault him for it. Instead she gently instructed him, as she had done with the yarn, and he slowly improved.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀It was peaceful, and easy. Her hair was /ridiculously/ long, well past her waist, he had plenty to work with. The awkward tension lessened as he continued, and she soon was finishing the bracelet she had. Although she didn’t /mention/ this, afraid that it would make him stop working.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Instead she sat quietly, needing to instruct him less and less as he kept going.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Or, she thought she had been sitting quietly.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”You keep squeaky.” Finnick said, it was simple, no judgment, just an observation.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Sorry, I didn’t even realize,”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”You do it a lot, I think it means you’re happy.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”My sister says it means I’m annoying.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Your sister is annoying.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Annie was laughing before Finnick finished saying he was sorry for that, laughing and squealing, she supposed.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”You chirp, like a bird.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”I’m not a bird.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”You sound like a bird.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Annie just nodded, and her hair tugged, “ow,” she laughed, turning to look at him (which only tugged it /more/),  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”You did that yourself,” he said laughing, not chuckling, /laughing/.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”I did,” she agreed, “but you’re getting good.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”I have a good teacher.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”And I have a good student.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀The pleasant quiet settled around them again and she watched the sun begin to set. This was easy and calm, the glances of Finnick she could catch from the corner of her eye told her he felt the same. And again she wished she could give him only calm, could help bring him back to himself, untangle whatever the games did to him. He deserved this calm, he deserved it more than anyone.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”I should get home before my sister comes looking,” Annie finally said well after the dark set in.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”I’ll walk you,” Finnick said quickly, and Annie shook her head laughing, “no really, I don’t mind.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”It’s far, and you should get home too, we’re /right/ by your house.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”I won the hunger games, I think I can handle a walk through the district alone.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Annie laughed, taking some ribbon from her bag to tie off her hair (which Finnick managed into two uneven braids, good first attempts). “Fine, fine, you can take me home, my victor.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Now now, I’m the Capitol’s victor,” He corrects with a laugh,  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”You were /my/ friend first, you’re my victor, Odair.” She stood with that, poking at his nose for the moment she had some height on him.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Fine, I’d happily be your anything and everything, Cresta.” He was laughing hard at that, it was a /joke/ but Annie felt the heat in her cheeks as they reddened.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀He didn’t seem to notice, or at least not mind, as he just kept laughing and she laughed with him. He all but /knew/ how she felt about him anyway, and she knew how he felt about her. They were friends, Finnick felt like she was a friend. She felt like he was one too, of course, she just wishes there could be more, at least one day.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”All I ask is you’re my friend,” Annie said with a bit of a firm nod, holding out a hand to aid him in standing (he didn’t need it, but it was /polite/) and he easily accepted. Quickly letting go of her hand, which was fine. She wasn’t aiming to have her hand held, she was just being polite.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀They reached her house in silence, the only other words spoken was quick bickering of who would carry her bag (she did, he was already walking her across the district). It was just nice to walk in his company, sure she did consider holding his hand, but after an uneventful day she didn’t want to risk ruining it. Instead, it was quiet, besides when he mumbled “you’re doing it again” when she squeaked and /chirpped/.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Goodnight, Annie.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Goodnight, be safe on your walk,”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”You don’t think I will be? I-“  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Won the games, I know.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀She giggled, and giggled harder when he kissed her forehead.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Get inside, your sister is snooping.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”These knots are /awful/.” Natalia scolded,  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Annie was sitting on her sister’s bed, letting her sister brush out her hair as she did every night. Just, tonight it was harder, Finnick wasn’t as good at braiding as he thought.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”I know, but he was so excited.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”You can’t just let him do whatever he likes just because you like him.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”That’s not why I let him! He wanted to practice and I just thought it’d be nice, he did an alright job.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀”Ann, your hair is a /mess/, we’ll be up for at least another half an hour.”  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀Annie rolled her eyes but didn’t respond, it didn’t matter. Natalia didn’t get it, didn’t get the way he so completely shifted when he had his hands in her hair. She didn’t understand how obvious his calmness was then, how horribly upset he had been until then. How could Annie justify him doing this if Natalia didn’t get the root of it? She simply couldn’t.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀So she was quiet, making no sounds, not even the chirps Finnick had been so fondly pointing out. Instead, she was still and thought about how to better instruct Finnick next time they had an afternoon together, how to help him /not/ do this to her hair again. He had easy potential, it was just about getting him /focused/.  
⠀⠀  
⠀⠀After all, helping was what friends were for. And he said they were friends, he said he’d be anything to her, she wanted a friend of him.


End file.
